‘Heyward’s witty adaptation in the hands of this impressive cast takes the humour up another notch’
One of Shakespeare’s more famous comedies is centred on mistaken identities and the fact that love can make you do the funniest of things, but there’s no mistaking the mischievous mayhem that The Pantaloons bring with this adaptation from writer and director Mark Hayward which also includes original songs.
Viola (Holly Durkin) is stranded on an island following a shipwreck, having lost contact with her twin brother Sebastian (Jonny Wiles) whom she believes drowned. To survive she disguises herself as a young man called Cesario and enters the service of the lovestruck Duke Orsino (Sam Gibbons) who is pursuing Olivia (Elizabeth Bell), a countess who is in mourning following the recent loss of her brother and is refusing to see any suitors. Orsino enlists the help of Cesario to act as an intermediary to try and move things along: what could possibly go wrong?
Meanwhile, in a comic subplot, several characters conspire to make Olivia’s pompous steward, Malvolio (Wiles), believe that Olivia has fallen for him, including her uncle, Toby Belch (Gibbons), another suitor, Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Bell), and her maidservant, Maria (Durkin).
With various incarnations of Feste the Fool offering the only voice of reason, it all comes to a head when Sebastian pitches up with sidekick Antonio (Gibbons) in tow…
Shakespeare North Playhouse’s ‘theatre in the round’ offers actors the perfect opportunity to stretch their acting muscles and our troupe of four excelled themselves with the simplest of staging and an inspired use of space, both on- and off-stage, and whilst the audience might have been slow to catch on at the beginning, once they’d caught up, it was laughter all the way.
There are dual identities at the heart of this story which was no better demonstrated than in the multi-rolling of the cast which cleverly reflected the underlying madness that permeates the behaviour of many of the characters. Use of colours ensured that the rapid costume changes allowed us to follow characters with ease as the pace of the plot picked up, whilst strongly choreographed routines demonstrating the best of physical theatre and slapstick routine were particularly impressive, as were the clever use of accents to distinguish between social class and heritage.
Wiles, on Loon debut, perfectly captured the sensibilities of Sebastian whilst embracing the madness of obsessive Malvolio, as well as proving himself to be of fine voice.
Gibbons excelled in his trio of roles as lovestruck Orsino, drunken Sir Toby, and an impassioned Antonio, all to great effect and good humour.
Bell, also on Loon debut, was suitably pristine as the grieving Olivia who lets her hair down as her head is turned, whilst her hilarious Sir Andrew demonstrated her range.
Durkin unravelled the complexity of Viola in an excellent performance and there was definitely no problem with her intelligent portrayal of Maria who has the upper hand on everybody else.
The gender switch between characters for Bell and Durkin also highlighted that whilst gender is often seen as the issue of our day, few realise that twenty percent of Shakespeare’s work involves cross-dressing characters, often designed to afford female characters more freedom in what was then a restrictive society, using their often-belied wit and intelligence to win the day; in Twelfth Night cross-dressing is central to the complication and the resolution of the plot, and it is all the funnier for it. Heyward’s witty adaptation in the hands of this impressive cast takes the humour up another notch.
The Pantaloons were established at the University of Kent in 2004 by Mark Hayward, Caitlin Hayward (née Storey) and Steve Purcell. They are a bright and vibrant theatre company whose style draws from a wide variety of popular theatre traditions. There is a strong element of collaboration, both within the group and with their audience, that is evident with an emphasis on physicality and sensitive interaction.
Further details and booking information for Twelfth Night and their other current touring productions – The (almost) Complete History of Britain and Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles – can be found at https://thepantaloons.co.uk/shows/
Review Date: 21st July 2026
Star Rating: FIVE